since i have written about food lately, i thought i'd begin this entry by also talking about food. one of the must-do in our itinerary was to try dining at cafe de coral at least once. ive learned about this fast food chain from one of my favorite travel blogs. perhaps it would not be wrong to say cafe de coral can be considered an equivalent of our very own Jollibee, except that this HK fast food joint offers SO MUCH MORE. the choices can range from sandwiches, steaks, congees, dumplings, curry dishes, sizzling plates, fried chicken, hainan chicken, breakfast meals and others. they serve milk tea and coffee also.
as soon as we have exchanged our pesos to HK dollars, we headed to cafe de coral right within the airport. the restaurant was already full and we had to wait 15 minutes to be seated. JP ordered a set menu which consisted of soy chicken, soup, sweet round bun, eggs, butter and orange juice. we footed a bill of around 30 or 40HKD, i think.
breakfast at cafe de coral
i decided not to order anything that morning when i saw that the serving can fairly satisfy both me and JP. i also thought we should control the spending especially since we had lost 200 HKD during the monetary exchange. i totally forgot about forex rates within airport terminals being usually lower than elsewhere.
by the way, we had arrived in hongkong on a saturday, around 7:00am on the day of my birthday. being born at 5:55AM, this meant i officially turned 30 sometime during the flight, perhaps somewhere over the South China Sea.
3-decade old version of me at the HK International Airport
given the time, we were in no hurry to proceed to our hotel since our check-in time is scheduled at 2pm. we took our time trying to find the terminal of the bus that would take us just a few blocks away from where we're staying in.
i enjoyed taking photos of the HK International Airport, admiring the architecture mostly. it had pillars here and there, tall and white walls, glass windows that would curve upwards to form the roofing. its supposed to be one of the world's busiest airports, but that was not the impression i had. the terminal, surprisingly, has a relaxing appeal to me.
HK International Airport (arrival wing)
our next destination, the dorsett far east hotel (see contact details below), which i was able to book together with our plane tickets via the Cebu Pacific website, is easily accessible by bus from the HK Int'l Airport and by train from anywhere else. i chose the hotel mainly for its affordability, clean and attractive rooms and free internet access. it is located 25 minutes away from the main shopping district.
traveling to the hotel which took around 30-40 minutes was a delight. we were able to
witness what the roads leading away from the mainland to the outer territories were like. we caught a glimpse of the airport express train and of the MTR train heading towards Disneyland. it was a little challenging to find the hotel at first, but after 20 minutes or so, we arrived at the entrance and was able to check-in. we just could not get into the room yet as it was still occupied.
Dorsett Far East Hotel
135-143 Castle Peak Road, Tsuen Wan, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Telephone : 2406 909
Website: http://hongkonghotel.dorsettfareast.com.hk
at the hotel lobby, we saw several luggages attended by the security guard. i have learned that these were left off by other tourists who are also still waiting on their rooms to become available. this gave us the confidence to also leave our baggages and start exploring the city! we took the free service ride from the hotel to mongkok, one of hongkong's main shopping districts.
the van took a route that was already becoming familiar. Shopping plazas, commercial establishments and local community parks abound in the area. beyond these community parks would be rows and rows of residential buildings, similar in structure, standing taller than anything i have seen back in Manila. there are no jeepneys nor tricycles in hongkong, at least none which i saw. it seems what is common in terms of transportation are those double-deck buses, similar to the ones they have in the UK perhaps. after all, HK is once a British colony only handed over back to the Chinese people in 1997.
my mind was already beginning to imagine what it would be like to live in one of these high-rise condominiums, when finally we were told that we have arrived at our destination: mongkok.
mongkok reminded me of the Times Square in New York mainly because of the many colorful digital advertisements i saw, too many in fact that it was overwhelming. since it was still daytime, most of these neon advertisements, many of which displayed chinese characters naturally, were still unlit although there were a few that were already flashing. the district is crowded, not just with people but also with stores selling items such as magazines, comic books, souvenir shirts, bags and other clothing items, make-up and other beauty products, watches, home appliances, bags, digital cameras, cellular phones and MANY MORE. food stalls were also plenty as well as shopping malls (some pretty huge even).
getting inside one of the malls provided us a much needed RELIEF since it was too hot to walk outside under the noon sun. we even found a mall that has an H&M outlet and instantly i was ecstatic! it was my favorite store back in the US -- i would walk several minutes from my apartment to the H&M store along michigan avenue under the cold, windy chicago weather just to visit H&M. after entering their HK store, i immediately flipped through the racks and found so many goooood items i thought i would easily spend 500HKD should i linger in there longer. after about 15 minutes i decided to stick to my plan: no shopping until DAY 3.
anyway, in order to get to the H&M outlet in Langham Place, Mongkok just take the Exit G3 from the Mong Kok MTR Station. H&M is either at the ground floor or the second floor.
to be continued...
traveling to the hotel which took around 30-40 minutes was a delight. we were able to
witness what the roads leading away from the mainland to the outer territories were like. we caught a glimpse of the airport express train and of the MTR train heading towards Disneyland. it was a little challenging to find the hotel at first, but after 20 minutes or so, we arrived at the entrance and was able to check-in. we just could not get into the room yet as it was still occupied.
Dorsett Far East Hotel
135-143 Castle Peak Road, Tsuen Wan, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Telephone : 2406 909
Website: http://hongkonghotel.dorsettfareast.com.hk
at the hotel lobby, we saw several luggages attended by the security guard. i have learned that these were left off by other tourists who are also still waiting on their rooms to become available. this gave us the confidence to also leave our baggages and start exploring the city! we took the free service ride from the hotel to mongkok, one of hongkong's main shopping districts.
the van took a route that was already becoming familiar. Shopping plazas, commercial establishments and local community parks abound in the area. beyond these community parks would be rows and rows of residential buildings, similar in structure, standing taller than anything i have seen back in Manila. there are no jeepneys nor tricycles in hongkong, at least none which i saw. it seems what is common in terms of transportation are those double-deck buses, similar to the ones they have in the UK perhaps. after all, HK is once a British colony only handed over back to the Chinese people in 1997.
photo taken while in the van, on our way to mongkok
my mind was already beginning to imagine what it would be like to live in one of these high-rise condominiums, when finally we were told that we have arrived at our destination: mongkok.
mongkok reminded me of the Times Square in New York mainly because of the many colorful digital advertisements i saw, too many in fact that it was overwhelming. since it was still daytime, most of these neon advertisements, many of which displayed chinese characters naturally, were still unlit although there were a few that were already flashing. the district is crowded, not just with people but also with stores selling items such as magazines, comic books, souvenir shirts, bags and other clothing items, make-up and other beauty products, watches, home appliances, bags, digital cameras, cellular phones and MANY MORE. food stalls were also plenty as well as shopping malls (some pretty huge even).
mongkok, one of the major shopping districts in hongkong
getting inside one of the malls provided us a much needed RELIEF since it was too hot to walk outside under the noon sun. we even found a mall that has an H&M outlet and instantly i was ecstatic! it was my favorite store back in the US -- i would walk several minutes from my apartment to the H&M store along michigan avenue under the cold, windy chicago weather just to visit H&M. after entering their HK store, i immediately flipped through the racks and found so many goooood items i thought i would easily spend 500HKD should i linger in there longer. after about 15 minutes i decided to stick to my plan: no shopping until DAY 3.
anyway, in order to get to the H&M outlet in Langham Place, Mongkok just take the Exit G3 from the Mong Kok MTR Station. H&M is either at the ground floor or the second floor.
to be continued...
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